MAC riled over report of secret fruit agreement

"The farmers' association might have covered up its agreement with Chinese authorities."

a MAC statement

Taiwan Provincial Farmers' Association (台灣省農會) must publicly answer rumors that it made an agreement with Beijing regarding fruit exports during its recent trip to China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a press release yesterday.

"If the hearsay is true, the association has already violated related laws and dispossessed the state of its authority, which is unacceptable," the MAC said.

According to a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday, during a trip by an association delegation to China late last month, the group made an agreement with the Association for Economic and Trade Exchange across the Taiwan Strait -- a Beijing-based semi-official institution -- on the issue of providing certificates of origin and establishing quarantine procedures.

"The issues of providing certificates of origin or establishing quarantine procedures should be conducted through the private sector so as to avoid the intervention of Taiwanese authorities," the report quoted anonymous information from China as saying.

As the report contradicted testimony Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠), the association's president, was asked to make to the Council of Agriculture (COA) on June 30, the MAC said that "we take the information in this report very seriously."

"We don't rule out the possibility that the association didn't tell the truth to the COA. The farmers' association might have covered up its agreement with Chinese authorities. In addition, it might be possible that China has made the claim unilaterally," the MAC said in the statement.

A mechanism for providing and verifying certificates of origin has been established. It has been proven an effective way to undertake such a task, and any private group shouldn't step in the existing mechanism for the purpose of expanding its interests, the MAC said.

As for the issues of establishing quarantine procedures, this falls under the COA's function and power as well, the MAC said. Any private group shouldn't weaken state power even though it is commissioned by the government to negotiate with China, the MAC said.